Electric vacuum cleaner and stool

ABSTRACT

An electric vacuum cleaner and stool not only possesses an appearance and performance which enable the apparatus to be used as a stool but also is designed to house all of the attachments needed for a cleaning operation. The apparatus includes an electrically operated fan, cord stowing means and a dust collector. The dust collector is movable into and out of a cleaner body through an opening in one side thereof and has a crank mechanism which is actuated by the cord stowing means to shake off dust from a filter assembly in the dust collector.

United States Patent [1 1 Yoshikawa et al.

[73] Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.,

Ltd., Osaka, Japan [22] Filed: Sept. 10, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 395,436

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 12, 1972 Japan 47-92078[52] US. Cl 55/274; 15/327 E; 15/352; 55/276; 55/304; 55/385; 55/472;55/481 [51] Int. Cl 801d 46/04 [58] Field of Search 55/274, 276, 300,304, 55/385, 305, 467, 470-473, 481; 15/327 E, 352

[ June 10, 1975 3,454,978 7/1969 Kuwahara 15/327 E 3,570,222 3/1971Dudek et al.

3,591,888 7/1971 Chujitakeda et al l5/352 3,599,273 8/1971 KonomaShirayanagi 55/467 Primary Examiner-Bernard Nozick Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Stevens, Davis, Miller and Mosher [57] ABSTRACT An electric vacuumcleaner and stool not only possesses an appearance and performance whichenable the apparatus to be used as a stool but also is designed to houseall of the attachments needed for a cleaning operation. The apparatusincludes an electrically operated fan, cord stowing means and a dustcollector. The dust collector is movable into and out of a cleaner bodythrough an opening in one side thereof and has a crank mechanism whichis actuated by the cord stowing means to shake off dust from a filterassembly in the dust collector.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Claims, 10 DrawingFigures 3,328,826 7/1967 Amos 55/472 PATENTEDJUH 10 m' sum 1 888,643

FIG. I

PATENTEISJW 10 m5 SHEET 4 FIG. 4

PATENTEDJUM 10 $975 SHEET FIG. 6

PATENTEDJUN 10 ms SHEET FIG. 7

FATENTESJUH 1 0 ms ,U388'643 SHEET 8 FIG. a

ELECTRIC VACUUM CLEANER AND STOOL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Fieldof the Invention The present invention relates to an electric vacuumcleaner apparatus which can be used not only as a cleaner but also as astool.

2. Description of Prior Art There has been known an electric vacuumcleaner having a seat provided thereon. However, the known cleaner hasbeen designed chiefly, for cleaning purposes and does not have theappearance and function to make it suitable for use as furniture. Therehas been known only a few electric vacuum cleaners which are designed tostow all the attachments for the cleaners such as an extension tube,flexible hose and the like within the cleaner housings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention toprovide an electric vacuum cleaner and stool which possesses all of thefunctions required for a cleaning operation and which provides anappearance and function entirely suited for use as a stool.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an electricvacuum cleaner apparatus which is designed to house within itself all ofthe attachments needed for the cleaning operation and which has socompact a design that a user can easily obtain space for storage of theapparatus.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electricvacuum cleaner apparatus which includes a dust collector movable intoand out of the cleaner body in a substantially horizontal direction andwhich is designed to enable the user to easily remove dust from the dustcollector.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide anelectric vacuum cleaner apparatus in which a relatively small space isrequired for the electric wir ing and power transmission improving theutilization of space and providing reliable operation.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide anelectric vacuum cleaner apparatus which is so designed as to allowmachine parts to be easily as sembled and which can be manufactured atlow cost.

According to the present invention, there is provided an electric vacuumcleaner apparatus including a cleaner body housing an electricallyoperated fan and having thereon means for stowing flexible hose when theapparatus is not being used for cleaning, a dust collector meansnormally within said cleaner body and movable relative to said cleanerbody in a substantially horizontal direction through an opening in aside Wall portion of said cleaner body, and cover means designed to bedetachably fitted to an upper portion of said cleaner body to enclosesaid hose stowing means, said cover means having a top portion whichprovides a seat.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the inventionwill be made apparent by the following description with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. I is a partial sectional side view of anembodiment of the vacuum cleaner apparatus according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a part of thecleaner shown in FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cleaner body of the apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a cover of the apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the cover;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the cleaner body with a flexible suctionhose being stowed thereon;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the cleaner bodywith a lid of a control section being removed to show inner constructionthereof;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the cleaner body with a top plate thereofremoved;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the cleaner body with parts thereofbeing in different positions; and

FIG. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional side view of the top plateshowing a stowing hole therein.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the drawings, reference numeral1 generally designates a cleaner body housing an electrically operatedfan 2, a cord stowing means 3, a dust collector 4 and other parts.Numeral 5 indicates a cleaner cover detachably mounted on the body 1 tocover a top thereof. The cover 5 is of a box-like shape having an openbottom and provided with a cushion 6 and its top. The apparatus isdesigned such that. when the cleaner body I is covered with the cover 5,the apparatus can be used as a stool. The cover 5 per se. when beingremoved from the cleaner body I, can also be used as a stool or a footstool as shown in FIG. 4. The inner surface of the cover 5 has meansthereon for detachably holding or supporting cleaner parts orattachments such as an extension pipe 7, a suction port element 8, etc.,(see FIG. 5) so that the attachments may be detached for use. Theextension pipe 7 is adapted to be held on the inner surface of the cover5 so that the pipe extends along a diagonal line.

The cleaner body 1 is formed on an open-topped box-like enclosure 9 anda top plate 11 closing the open top of the enclosure. The top plate 11has an upwardly projecting peripheral wall 10 which defines a recess inthe upper surface of the top plate. as best shown in FIG. 10. Theperipheral wall 10 constitutes means for holding cleaner attachmentssuch as a flexible hose 12 against movement out of the upper surface ofthe top plate. The wall 10 has an outer peripheral surface which can actas means for guiding the cover 5 when the latter is placed in positionon the cleaner body 1.

A partition 13 is disposed centrally of the interior of the enclosure 9to divide the interior into two compartments one of which is toaccomodate the dust collector and the other of which houses the electricfan and cord stowing means, as will be seen in FIGS. 8 and 9. Thepartition 13 is detachably mounted by means of ribs 9' provided on theinner wall of the enclosure 9.

The dust collector 4 has a substantially rectangular configuration andis horizontally slidable with respect to the enclosure 9 as is a drawer.The dust collector 4 has handle 14 by means of which the collector canbe moved in and out of the enclosure 9. An opening 15 is formed in theupper surface of the dust collector 4. When the latter is pushed intothe enclosure 9, the opening 15 is aligned with a coupling or dustsuction opening 16 formed in the top plate 11. The flexible hose 12 hasa coupling head 12' which is inserted through the openings 16 and intothe dust collector when the apparatus is in position ready for thecleaning operation.

In the dust collector 4 is detachably mounted a filter assemblycomprising a pre-filter 17 catching and collecting coarse dust, a mainfilter 18 for fine dust and a crank mechanism 19 adapted to vibrate themain filter to shake off dust particles from the main filter. The filterassembly can be fitted into and removed from the dust collector 4through an opening in the end thereof opposite to the handle 14.Air-containing dust is caused to flow into the dust collector throughthe dust inlet opening 15 and through the filter assembly whereby thedust is removed. The cleaned air is discharged out of the dust collectorthrough the opening through which the filter assembly can be fitted intoand removed from the dust collector.

As best shown in FIG. 9, the electrically operated fan 2 is positionedwithin the enclosure 9 on the side opposite to the dust collector 4 withrespect to the partition 13. The latter is formed therein withair-passage apertures in the form of slots 21 through which cleaned airfrom the filter assembly is caused to flow by the fan 2. The latter iscovered with a casing 22 of a plastic material. The casing is sized andshaped such that the casing has a first opening in its upstream orsuction end which is in abutment contact with the partition 13 and asecond opening or air-passage port 23 formed at the downstream ordischarge end of the casing 22, the air passage port 23 being connectedto airdischarge apertures in the form of slots 24 formed in the topplate 11 of the cleaner body I as best seen in FIG. 7. The fan casing 22not only functions to silence the noise produced by the operation of thefan 2 but also sealingly encloses the path of flow of the air betweenthe slots 21 in the partition 13 and the air-discharge slots 24 in thetop plate I I of the cleaner body 1 with resultant advantages that thepath of air flow is free from air-leakage gaps which otherwise needpacking materials and that there is no fear that the air should flowinto other sections in the cleaner body to cause deposition of dust onthose sections and consequent reduction in their performance.

The cord stowing means 3 is disposed in the cleaner body 1 in juxtaposedrelationship to the fan 2 which extends between the partition 13 and theinner surface of the rear wall portion of the enclosure 9, as best seenin FIG. 8. The cord stowing means 3 includes a cord reel 26 for windingup a length of cord (FIG. 9), a reel shaft 27 rotatably supporting thereel 26 and a helical spring (not shown) providing a force to drive thereel 26 in one direction. The cord reel 26 has an integral gear 29formed on the end thereof adjacent the parti tion 13. A gear 28 is inmeshing engagement with a pinion 30 which is rotatably journaled by thepartition 13. As best seen in FIG. 2, the pinion 30 is connected to aclutch pawl wheel 31 which is disposed on the side of the partition 13opposite to the pinion 30. The clutch pawl wheel 31 is so designed as tomesh with a second pawl wheel 32 which is operatively connected to thecrank 19 rotatably supported by the filter assembly 20 described above.The arrangement is such that the meshing engagement of the pawl wheel 31with the second pawl wheel 32 takes place when the dust collector 4 isfitted into the cleaner body until the collector is reached by thepartition 13. The crank 19 and the pawl wheel 32 are rotatably supportedby a support plate 33 around which is disposed a packing 34 of rubberwhich holds the pre-filter l7 and the main filter 18 and provides a sealbetween a casing 4' of the dust collector 4 and the partition 13.

The top plate 11 closing the open top of the enclo sure 9 is formed withan upstanding annular wall 35 disposed substantially centrally of thetop plate. The annular wall 35 cooperates with a lid member 39 to definea space in which an electric control unit 36, an indicator means 37 forindicating the amount of sucked dust and a button 38 for actuating abrake for the cord 26 are received, as will be seen in FIG. 7. Pivotallymounted on the lid member 39 is a handle 40 by means of which thecleaner body may be carried by an operator. A cut-out 35' is formed inthe annular wall 35 in a portion adjacent the dust suction opening 16 inthe top plate 11, as best shown in FIG. 7. Electric terminals 41connected to the electric control unit 36 are mounted in the cut-out 35'and are faced outwardly so as to be connected .with conductors forremote control means for the apparatus, as will be discussed in detailhereunder.

A coupling head 12' of the flexible hose 12 is detachably fitted intothe opening 16 in the top plate 11. The head 12' carries electricterminals 42 adapted to be electrically connected to the terminal 41 inthe cut-out 35'. The terminals 42 are electrically connected by means ofconductors extending through the wall of the hose 12 to a manuallyoperable switch 12a on the free end of the hose 12 so that the apparatusis remotecontrolled by means of the switch 12a.

The coupling head 12' is rotatably received in the opening 16 in the topplate 11 and is adapted to be positioned as shown in FIG. 3 duringoperation. When the cleaner apparatus is not in use, the coupling head12' of the hose 12 is rotated about from the position shown in FIG. 3 toa position shown in FIG. 6 and the hose is stowed on the top plate 1] inhelically wound form extending around the annular wall 35. As shown inFIGS. 7 and 10, a hole 43 is formed in the top plate 11 adjacent acorner thereof to allow the free end of the flexible hose 12 to beinserted therethrough when the hose is stowed. A groove 43' extends fromthe hole 43 to facilitate the stowage. Carrier wheels 44 and 45 aremounted on the bottom face of the cleaner body to facilitate movement ofthe cleaner apparatus on a floor.

The above described and illustrated cleaner apparatus provides thefollowing advantages:

I. In the case where the apparatus is used as an electric vacuumcleaner, the cover may be removed from the cleaner body which is of asize similar to that of a regular cleaner. Then the attachments such asthe extension pipe, suction port element and other accessory parts maybe removed from the cover and attached to the flexible hose whosecoupling head is connected to the top plate of the cleaner body. In casethe apparatus is usedias a stool, all the attachments may be stowed orhoused within the cleaner body and the cover so that the entirestructure has a shape remote from that of prior art vacuum cleaners andpresents an appearance of a stool.

11. Since all of the attachments of the cleaner apparatus are housed inthe body and cover, there is no need for an extra space for storing suchattachment. In addition. it is not required to prepare a space in acloset or the like for storing the cleaner apparatus: it may beconveniently placed at a side of a wardrobe or the like or may be merelyleft in a room. Particularly, as the entire structure is shaped into asubstantially column-like configuration, the apparatus may be placed ata narrow corner for furniture or the like. Further, as the cover issubstantially square in shape, the extension pipe, which has the longestlength of any of the attachment parts, can be held within the cover in adiagonal direction. There is thus provided a very convenient electricvacuum cleaner apparatus in which all of the attachment parts can behoused expediently.

Ill. Since the dust collector is slidable horizontally into or out ofthe cleaner body, the collector unit can be drawn out by merely graspingand pulling the handle thereon and hence an operator is not required toremove the dust collector unit after having removed the cover. Further,the side of the collector opposite to the handle is provided with an airpassage. This enable the operator to simply hold the handle of the dustcollector to permit accumulated dust to fall by gravity.

IV. The operator is not required to disconnect the flexible hose fromthe cleaner for the purpose of stow ing the hose upon completion of eachcleaning operation. Instead, the flexible hose may be simply placed onthe top plate in helically wound form while the coupling head of thehose is kept connected to the suction opening in the top plate. Thus,the handling of the apparatus during and after use is greatlysimplified.

V. In general, an open-topped box-like structure of a plastic materialor the like tends to have side walls deformable inwardly. The apparatusof the present invention, however, is provided with a partitionextending between two side walls to prevent inward deformation thereof.Another side of the cleaner body of the invention adjacent the two sidewalls is opened to accommodate the dust collector unit while the otherside wall is backed up by the electrically operated fan and cord stowingmeans extending between the other side wall and the partition. Moreover,as the fan and cord stowing means are simply held by the partition andthe inner surface of the box-like enclosure, no additional fasteningmeans or parts are required to hold the fan and cord stowing means inposition with a resultant advantage that parts of the apparatus can beassembled in extremely simplified manner and that the entireconstruction can have a quite simple design which requires a minimumnumber of parts.

VI. The electrically operated fan and the cord stowing means arearranged in juxtaposed relation and the dust collector is positionedclose to the middle point between them. This feature remarkably enhancesthe function of the cleaner apparatus. Specifically, the featurereferred to allows the air in the apparatus to flow along a generallylinear path (although slightly curved) through the air passage openingin the partition so that the air intake efficiency of the fan can beimproved to an almost ideal level. Also, the dust collector and the cordstowin g means are positioned in closely spaced relationship to eachother. This simplifies the arrangement of the means for transmitting therotation of the cord stowing means to the crank of the filter assemblywhich is detachably fitted in the dust collector. Namely, the speed ofthe cord reel of the cord stowing means is reduced by a single pinionwhich may be di rectly engaged with the crank. Thus, the presentinvention can realize a drastic simplification of the appara- VII. Sincethe dust collector is slidable in a direction substantiallyperpendicular to the partition wall, very secure engagement can beobtained between the pawl wheel on the dust collector and the pawl wheelon the partition. The meshing engagement between these pawl wheels canbe accomplished by merely pushing the dust collector into the enclosureof the cleaner body. No problem arises even if both pawl wheelsprotrude.

VIII. The dust collector, fan and cord stowing means are arrangedrelative to each other such that the centroid of the entire apparatus ispositioned in the rear portion of the apparatus with respect to thedirection of movement of the cleaner body on the floor, and as regardsthe transverse direction, the dust collector is positioned centrallywhile the fan and cord stowing means, both being substantially equal inweight, are disposed on the right and left hand sides of the apparatus.Therefore, the centroid of the apparatus is positioned on the centerline of the apparatus to ensure a good mobility of the cleanerapparatus.

IX. With respect to the electric wiring, the electric terminals on theannular wall of the top plate can be coupled directly to the electricterminals on the flexible hose to assure remote control of theapparatus. The electrical connection can be accomplished with only oneoperation unlike prior art cleaners wherein a dust collector iselectrically connected first to a flexible hose and then to a cleanerbody. In addition, as the electric control unit of the cleaner accordingto the present invention is disposed inwardly of the annular wall, noextra wiring is required for the electric terminals for the remotecontrol and the terminals are directly electrically connected to theelectric control unit. Further, the flexible hose per se, after use, canbe simply wound around the annular wall of the top plate and can besnugly housed in the space between the annular wall and the peripheralwall of the top plate while the coupling head of the hose is kept fittedin the dust suction opening in the top plate. This permits a marvelousimprovement in the operating performance and simplification of design ofthe apparatus.

What we claim is:

1. An electric vacuum cleaner and stool including a cleaner bodycomprising a generally box-like enclosure having a top wall, a bottomwall and side walls; an electrically operated fan and means stowing anelectric cord both disposed within said enclosure adjacent one of saidside walls and arranged in juxtaposed relationship; means stowing aflexible hose on said top of said enclosure; a first opening in a secondside wall of said enclosure opposite said one side wall; a dustcollector means including a generally box-shaped casing slidably movablethrough said first opening into and out of the interior of saidenclosure, a handle on an outer wall of said dust collector casing, asecond opening in the top of said dust collector casing, a third openingin a second wall of said dust collector casing opposite the wall onwhich said handle is provided; a filter assembly detachably mounted onsaid dust collector casing adjacent said third opening and being movablewith said casing; means for sealingly coupling said filter assembly withsaid electrically operated fan when said dust collector casing is fullymoved into said enclosure; an air inlet formed in said top of saidenclosure and positioned such that said air inlet is in registry withsaid sec ond opening in said top of said dust collector casing when thesame is fully moved into said enclosure, said air inlet being adapted tobe connected with a coupling head of said flexible hose for the passageof dustcontaining air into said dust collector casing; an air outletformed in said top wall of said enclosure adjacent said electricallyoperated fan; means rotatably mounted on said filter assembly forremoving dust therefrom and including means being adapted to bedrivingly connected to means on said cord stowing means when said dustcollector casing is fully moved into said enclosure; and cover meansdesigned to be de tachably fitted over at least said top wall of saidenclosure to cover said hose stowing means, said cover means having itstop designed to provide a seat.

2. An electric vacuum cleaner and stool as defined in claim 1 furtherincluding a partition disposed substantially centrally within saidenclosure and extending substantially at right angles with respect tosaid top of said enclosure to divide the interior thereof into two compartments in one of which said electrically operated fan and said cordstowing means are disposed. said dust collecting means being disposed inthe other of said compartments, an air passage formed in said partitionin opposite relationship to said electrically operated fan, said fanbeing covered with a casing having an upstream end in abutment contactwith said partition around said air passage therein and being connectedto said air outlet, said dust collector casing being adapted to be movedinto sealing engagement with said partition when said dust collectormeans is fully moved into said enclosure.

3. An electric vacuum cleaner and stool as defined by claim 1 whereinsaid electrically operated fan and said cord stowing means have axes ofrotation extending in parallel relationship with each other and with thebot tom of the enclosure of said cleaner body, and wherein the casing ofsaid dust collector means is movable in a direction parallel to saidaxes of rotation.

4. A vacuum cleaner and stool according to claim 1, in which said covermeans has means on the inner surface thereof for detachably holdingattachments of said cleaner apparatus.

5. A vacuum cleaner and stool according to claim 4, in which saidcleaner body and said cover means when assembled present a generallyrectangular configuration having a common axis which extendssubstantially vertically when the apparatus is in operation, said covermeans having means on the inner surface thereof for holding an axiallyexpansible extension pipe so that the same extends along a diagonalline.

6. An electric vacuum cleaner and stool as defined in claim 1 in whichsaid top of said enclosure is provided with a continuous peripheral wallupstanding from said top of said enclosure for providing a guide forsaid cover means.

7. An electric vacuum cleaner and stool as defined in claim 6 in whichsaid cord stowing means includes a reel, said dust removing meanscomprises a crank mechanism adapted to be driven by said cord stowingmeans to shake-off dust from said filter assembly, said cord stowingmeans includes a first clutch member rotatably supported by saidpartition, and said crank mechanism includes a second clutch memberadapted to be moved into and out of driving engagement with said firstclutch member when said dust collector casing is moved fully into or outof said enclosure.

8. A vacuum cleaner and stool according to claim 7, in which said top ofsaid enclosure has a handle by means of which said cleaner body can becarried by an operator and in which said enclosure has carrier wheelsmounted on the bottom of said enclosure.

9. A vacuum cleaner and stool according to claim 7, in which said top ofsaid enclosure has an upstanding annular wall disposed substantiallycentrally of said top plate, and in which said cleaner and stool furtherincludes a lid member covering the top of said annular wall, said lidmember cooperating with said annular wall to define a space in which anelectric control unit, means for indicating the amount of dust suckedinto said dust collector apparatus and other parts of said cleaner aredisposed, a first set of electric terminals electrically connected tosaid electric control unit and mounted on said annular wall adjacentsaid air inlet in said top, a second set of electric terminals mountedon said coupling head of said flexible hose, said hose having switchmeans mounted thereon at the free end of said hose and electricallyconnected to said second set of terminals for thereby facilitatingremote controlling of said apparatus.

10. A vacuum cleaner and stool according to claim 7, in which said topof said enclosure is formed therein with a hole for allowing the freeend of said hose to extend therethrough when the hose is stowed, saidtop being further formed therein with a recess for accomodating aportion of said hose adjacent said free end.

1. An electric vacuum cleaner and stool including a cleaner bodycomprising a generally box-like enclosure having a top wall, a bottomwall and side walls; an electrically operated fan and means stowing anelectric cord both disposed within said enclosure adjacent one of saidside walls and arranged in juxtaposed relationship; means stowing aflexible hose on said top of said enclosure; a first opening in a secondside wall of said enclosure opposite said one side wall; a dustcollector means including a generally box-shaped casing slidably movablethrough said first opening into and out of the interior of saidenclosure, a handle on an outer wall of said dust collector casing, asecond opening in the top of said dust collector casing, a third openingin a second wall of said dust collector casing opposite the wall onwhich said handle is provided; a filter assembly detachably mounted onsaid dust collector casing adjacent said third opening and being movablewith said casing; means for sealingly coupling said filter assembly withsaid electrically operated fan when said dust collector casing is fullymoved into said enclosure; an air inlet formed in said top of saidenclosure and positioned such that said air inlet is in registry withsaid second opening in said top of said dust collector casing when thesame is fully moved into said enclosure, said air inlet being adapted tobe connected with a coupling head of said flexible hose for the passageof dustcontaining air into said dust collector casing; an air outletformed in said top wall of said enclosure adjacent said electricallyoperated fan; means rotatably mounted on said filter assembly forremoving dust therefrom and including means being adapted to bedrivingly connected to means on said cord stowing means when said dustcollector casing is fully moved into said enclosure; and cover meansdesigned to be detachably fitted over at least said top wall of saidenclosure to cover said hose stowing means, said cover means having itstop designed to provide a seat.
 2. An electric vacuum cleaner and stoolas defined in claim 1 further including a partition disposedsubstantially centrally within said enclosure and extendingsubstantially at right angles with respect to said top of said enclosureto divide the interior thereof into two compartments in one of whichsaid electrically operated fan and said cord stowing means are disposed,said dust collecting means being disposed in the other of saidcompartments, an air passage formed in said partition in oppositerelationship to said electrically operated fan, said fan being coveredwith a casing having an upstream end in abutment contact with saidpartition around said air passage therein and being connected to saidair outlet, said dust collector casing being adapted to be moved intosealing engagement with said partition when said dust collector means isfully moved into said enclosure.
 3. An electric vacuum cleaner and stoolas defined by claim 1 wherein said electrically operated fan and saidcord stowing means have axes of rotation extending in parallelrelationship with each other and with the bottom of the enclosure ofsaid cleaner body, and wherein the casing of said dust collector meansis movable in a direction parallel to said axes of rotation.
 4. A vacuumcleaner and Stool according to claim 1, in which said cover means hasmeans on the inner surface thereof for detachably holding attachments ofsaid cleaner apparatus.
 5. A vacuum cleaner and stool according to claim4, in which said cleaner body and said cover means when assembledpresent a generally rectangular configuration having a common axis whichextends substantially vertically when the apparatus is in operation,said cover means having means on the inner surface thereof for holdingan axially expansible extension pipe so that the same extends along adiagonal line.
 6. An electric vacuum cleaner and stool as defined inclaim 1 in which said top of said enclosure is provided with acontinuous peripheral wall upstanding from said top of said enclosurefor providing a guide for said cover means.
 7. An electric vacuumcleaner and stool as defined in claim 6 in which said cord stowing meansincludes a reel, said dust removing means comprises a crank mechanismadapted to be driven by said cord stowing means to shake-off dust fromsaid filter assembly, said cord stowing means includes a first clutchmember rotatably supported by said partition, and said crank mechanismincludes a second clutch member adapted to be moved into and out ofdriving engagement with said first clutch member when said dustcollector casing is moved fully into or out of said enclosure.
 8. Avacuum cleaner and stool according to claim 7, in which said top of saidenclosure has a handle by means of which said cleaner body can becarried by an operator and in which said enclosure has carrier wheelsmounted on the bottom of said enclosure.
 9. A vacuum cleaner and stoolaccording to claim 7, in which said top of said enclosure has anupstanding annular wall disposed substantially centrally of said topplate, and in which said cleaner and stool further includes a lid membercovering the top of said annular wall, said lid member cooperating withsaid annular wall to define a space in which an electric control unit,means for indicating the amount of dust sucked into said dust collectorapparatus and other parts of said cleaner are disposed, a first set ofelectric terminals electrically connected to said electric control unitand mounted on said annular wall adjacent said air inlet in said top, asecond set of electric terminals mounted on said coupling head of saidflexible hose, said hose having switch means mounted thereon at the freeend of said hose and electrically connected to said second set ofterminals for thereby facilitating remote controlling of said apparatus.10. A vacuum cleaner and stool according to claim 7, in which said topof said enclosure is formed therein with a hole for allowing the freeend of said hose to extend therethrough when the hose is stowed, saidtop being further formed therein with a recess for accomodating aportion of said hose adjacent said free end.